A 1908 postcard from
the height of the Orchard Boom (above). It reads: hellow fred i will send you a
postal [card] did
you git my letter times is Bum hear i gess i will git a job on a house
at foots creek prety soon the[re] is 10 carpenters to ever job
hear i may git a well or too to dig Chiefy is gon he left to day and
went North good by Joe

JACKSON TO FRONT.Stands as Second County in Oregon in Assessed Wealth.

Salem--Jackson County has sprung to second place among the counties of
Oregon in taxable wealth. Marion County, which has for many years
occupied second place, has dropped to fifth place, and perhaps lower.
Not all the assessment returns have been received yet, but it is
already apparent that at least three counties have stepped above Marion
in assessed valuation.
Multnomah County, of course, is still
first, her assessment for 1906 not yet being definitely known. Jackson
will come second with a valuation of over $12,000,000, Washington
probably third with $10,660,000, Umatilla probably fourth with
$10,165,000, and Marion probably fifth with $9,824,000. There are a
number of wealthy counties yet to report, among them being Lane, Linn
and Clackamas, any of which may surpass Marion and put that county
still further down the list.
Jackson County's assessment this
year shows an increase of about 200 percent, for last year the
assessment was only $4,650,000.Lexington Wheatfield, Lexington, Oregon, December 14, 1905, page 3

[Tom Gillan] went direct to Portland and from there to the Rogue
River country. He stopped several days in Medford and saw the country
surrounding it. He noticed its advantages and its disadvantages. One
thing that struck him particularly was the many idle men all through
the Northwest. At Medford there is a surplus of real estate dealers and
no factories of any moment to supply a means of livelihood.
What struck Mr. Gillan forcibly was the number of
places for sale in Medford. He says that nearly every place has a
notice, "for sale," tacked in a conspicuous place, and this does not
appeal to him as an evidence of prosperity. There are automobiles
galore owned by the real estate men, and when a train arrives there the
men with the appearance of being well-to-do are carried to any point by
the real estate men, while they show an utter indifference to the man
garbed for labor."Home
from the Coast,"
Richfield [Utah] Reaper,
May 6,
1908, page 3

WANTED--MORE HOUSES.

Facts are the best boosters that Medford has. This little tale is
better proof of the rapidity of Medford's growth than all the
panegyrics of the real estate men. A short time ago S. J. Summerlin
commenced the erection a four-room cottage on his lots adjoining the
park. Three weeks is required for its completion, nevertheless he has
been besieged by people to rent the house. One man offered to take the
house for a year and pay rent from last Monday, though it would require
three weeks to complete the house. As Mr. Summerlin wants the house for
himself, he will commence the erection of a six-room house which he has
already rented for a year, at $30 a month.Medford
Mail, February 5, 1909, page 1

Medford's
hotels, rooming houses and the like were never before so crowded with
newcomers as they are at the present time. The Moore, the Nash and a
host of rooming houses never before were doing as great a business.
People have been turned away often or rooms found for them on the
outside. The restaurants in the city are filled each day, and
everything indicates that the present rate of business will increase as
the summer comes on with the influx of people from the East.
"I only wish that the Nash was twice its
present
size," states manager Johnson. "We are crowded every day and are forced
to send people to other places because we have not the accommodations
for them."
"The Moore is doing a record business,"
states "the father of the West Side" [T. H. Moore].
"People are crowding us for accommodations, and we have not the room.
Prosperity is surely here. I am surprised at the large number of
newcomers."
All the other men in this line of
business have the
same story to tell. People are coming by every train and must be cared
for. The local business men are reaping a harvest.
A new hotel for Medford is among the
probabilities
of the near future. Plans have been drawn, and part of the stock
subscribed on a tentative proposition to erect a complete modern
hostelry to accommodate the increased business. Both present structures
are turning away people, and neither shows any indication of building
the needed accommodations. The Nash some time since planned the
erection of an addition [to] the "L" in the interior, providing 16
additional suites, with baths, but there has been no sign of building
as yet. Neither has the Hotel Moore extended to the corner as once
contemplated, the owner holding it more valuable for business purposes
than for hotel. Mr. Moore, however, will provide a suitable site for a
fine hotel on the West Side, and is understood to be figuring along
these lines with capitalists.Excerpt, "Hotels Jammed with Newcomers," Medford Daily Tribune, April
1, 1909, page 1

GREAT DEMAND FOR ROOMS.

An
evidence of the rapid growth of this city is the great demand for
office and living rooms. No sooner is a room made vacant than there is
a score or more applicants for it. The number of new buildings that are
going up every day does not seem to keep up with the ever-increasing
influx of newcomers that every train brings in. Several professional
men who have recently arrived in the city from the East to take up
their abode with us have been unable, in many instances, to find rooms
to open up their offices. The same has also been true of residences and
living rooms and business locations. If ever there was a demand for new
buildings of every description in Medford, it is at the present time.Medford
Mail, May 7, 1909, page 2

Knockers have scoffed at Medford, saying, "Where is your payroll?"
Well, let them knock again, for Medford will soon have the biggest
payroll in Southern Oregon [with the completion of the Pacific
& Eastern Railroad]."Road Turned Over to Allen," Medford Mail, August
27, 1909, page 1

Real estate men are
complaining because
people are taking lots and houses off the market. Everyone wants to
buy--no one to sell."Personal and Local Brevity," Medford Mail, September
24, 1909, page 2

TRAVELERS TO USE TENTSRush of People to Medford May
Necessitate Canvas Hotels.

MEDFORD, Or., March 12.--(Special.)--So many people are coming to
Medford that the town is unable to accommodate them all, and many are
obliged to go to neighboring towns to secure lodgings. All the hotels
are crowded, and every train brings people interested in this section
of the country. At the meeting of the Commercial Club, held March 3, a
petition was presented by the women of the Greater Medford Club, asking
that steps be taken to procure a plat of ground on which tents might be
pitched for the accommodation of the traveling public.
The
secretary of the Commercial Club of Medford reports that his office has
received an average of 30 letters a day from people making inquiries
about this section of the country and its resources.Sunday Oregonian,
Portland, March 13, 1910, page 62

The tent city
on South Oakdale, 1910.

TENT CITY
IS BEING ERECTEDAccommodations Provided To Care
for Overflow from Hotels--Everything Prepared Complete and
Sanitary--Tents Built on Platform.

The property on Oakdale Avenue, just south of the Washington School,
has undergone a rapid transformation in the past two days, and a neatly
arranged city of tents has made its appearance there.
It will be remembered that some time ago
the Greater Medford Club initiated a move to establish a tent city to
accommodate the tremendous influx of people now being drawn to Medford
by the city's extensive advertising campaign. The ladies took the
matter up with the Commercial Club and a committee was appointed to
further the project.
Owing to the time and expense necessary
for carrying out such an enterprise, the matter was finally dropped by
the club. The committee, however, interested G. F. Cuthbert of G. F.
Cuthbert & Co., the new house-furnishing concern, who at once
took hold of the matter.
Mr. Cuthbert states that the plan
followed in the erection of the tent city is similar to that carried
out in Santa Cruz and Southern California, and that no expense has been
spared to make everything complete and sanitary. Each tent is built on
a platform, with rustic sides, fitted with screen doors and wire screen
on the walls, so that the entire sides of each tent may be raised,
giving most complete ventilation. Canvas partitions between the tents
give absolute privacy. Each tent is protected by a fly overhead. All
are electrically lighted, and lights have been placed in the streets.
The furnishing is entirely new and attractive.
The entire premises will be well fenced,
and a large office tent, toilets, etc., provided. E. S. Parsons,
recently of Portland, has been engaged as manager.Medford
Mail Tribune, April 6, 1910, page 5

In lieu of houses, five
more tents were
pitched by newcomers Saturday. There is no such thing possible as
housing the people who are arriving every week, and the only salvation
is tents as a temporary shelter. A department pavilion would be a
moneymaker here at present."Central Point Items," Medford Mail Tribune, October
10, 1910, page 2

WANTED TO RENT--ANY OLD HOUSEIn Spite of Vast Amount of Building in
Medford, Supply Can in No Way
Equal the Demand--Houses Rented Long Before Completed.

In
spite of the fact that Medford has done more building during the past
year than ever before in her history, not alone in the erection of
business blocks, but also in dwelling houses, it is almost impossible
for a person to find a house to rent in the city. Every day one can
meet a score of persons on the trail of suitable houses to rent, and
night, after a day spent on such a quest, generally brings no result
but fatigue.
Many of the new houses erected in
Medford last
summer were for the sole purpose of investment. And in scores of
instances the houses were engaged before the foundations had been laid.
Today there is scarcely a house to be had. The newcomer is forced to
spend weeks in overcrowded boarding houses before he can secure what he
needs.
There is a demand in Medford for any
character of
building, from a two-room shack to a ten-room modern residence. No
sooner is one offered than it is taken.
As an instance of the eagerness with
which house are
taken, the experience of Dr. E. H. Porter is in point. He started the
erection of a residence on South Oakdale. No sooner was the foundation
in than applications began to pile up, and before a single stick of
timber was in place the dwelling was rented.Medford
Mail Tribune, November 30, 1910, page 3

MEDFORD
GROWS RAPIDLYPercentage
Increase in Population Makes Great Showing.

MEDFORD, Or., Dec 1.--(Special.)--The census bureau at Washington
announced today the population of Medford to be 8840. an increase of
392 percent over the population of 1900, which was 1791. This increase
is greater than that of any other city in the country, with the
exception of Oklahoma City, whose percentage of increase was 393.
Medford's greatest percentage of growth occurred during the last three
years, the estimated population at that time being 3000. The census of
Medford was taken last May. Since that time the population has been
increased to 10,000. according to deposits in the banks and estimates
made by contractors and postal authorities.Morning Oregonian,
Portland, December 2, 1910, page 1

Medford, Ore.--Presumably
as a result of a great deal of advertising, mechanics of all trades,
among them a great many carpenters from the East as well as from the
Coast, are flocking to this city. This oversupply of carpenters and
other labor is playing havoc with our organization. While during the
past few years, our services being in demand, we have maintained a
decent wage rate, since [then] conditions have become bad, generally,
all over the country, transient labor is moving about a great deal and
many in search of employment have stopped at our city. This influx of
idle men we are desirous to check, as it would only drain their
resources and ours also, and work is not to be had. Traveling brothers
will act wisely by avoiding this city.

The Carpenter, January
1911, page 38

Statistics show seven
cities of more than
5000, an increase of four since 1900. Most of them showed large
increases. Medford heads the list with 393.5 percent; Eugene with 178.3
percent; Portland with 129.2 percent, and Ashland with 90.5 percent.
None of the cities showed a loss."Suburban Count Shown," Morning Oregonian, Portland,
January 14, 1911, page 4

HOUSES FOR RENT ARE SCARCE

Houses
for rent are a scarce article in Medford, if the complaints being made
in this regard are any criterion. Newcomers state that it is almost
impossible to secure a single modern house in the city. A few
"oldtimers" in the house line are offered, but these are taken up very
rapidly. According to local contractors, there will be a great amount
of building done in the resident portions of the city this summer, as
well as in the business sections. But nearly every house that is
erected is for some family and is either owned or rented months in
advance.Medford
Mail Tribune weekly, February 2, 1911, page 7

Carpenters Demand Increase.

MEDFORD,
Or., Feb. 4.--(Special.)--The carpenters' union served notice upon
contractors in this city today that after April 1, the wage scale here
will be increased from $3.50 to $4 a day. The higher cost of living was
given as the reason.Sunday
Oregonian, Portland, February 5, 1911, page 14

William M. Colvig gave
one of his interesting
and entertaining talks [at the meeting of the Oregon Development League
in Astoria]. He is known to be one of the best and wittiest public
speakers in Oregon, and he was at his best. He spoke as follows:
"For three years past I have been the president of the Medford
Commercial Club, and, with my associates, have induced a great many
people to come to Oregon, many of whom are now basking in the sunshine
of happier and more prosperous days than they had ever known before,
and yet I am sorry to say there are a few others who seem to have been
'over-much persuaded,' and who have either returned to the familiar
faces of their old homes in the East or are found wandering up and down
the Pacific Coast cussing the country and everybody in it. These few
need parental guidance and should not have crossed the threshold where
the 'old folks stay.'
"As loyal citizens of Oregon we should
be
glad to welcome among us all those who are not afraid to face the
obstacles which lie in the pathway of every new civilization. We should
not hesitate to sing the praises of our home in this land of rich
endowment, but there is danger that we may overdraw the picture and
offer inducements that will never be realized by those who may come. We
must, therefore, be careful in all our statements so that we will not
be afraid to face the newcomer when he arrives.""Awaken, Pleads Wilcox to Oregon," Morning Oregonian, Portland,
August 15, 1911, page 1

From the May 1911 issue.

And the boom goes
bust:

. . . I would recommend
that immediate steps be taken to build an addition to the present city
hall on the vacant lot adjoining it on the south.
. . . at the present time a large number
of our
citizens in the building trades are unemployed, and I deem it a time
propitious for erecting a substantial addition to the city's building.W. H. Canon, Mayor, "City
Finances Shown To Be in Good Shape," Medford Mail Tribune, January
3, 1912, page 1

Feb.
7, 1912.

To
Our Brothers and Sisters of Organized Labor, Greeting:
Through the daily press, monthly
magazines, even by
means of posters on the billboards, Oregon and its chief metropolis,
Portland, have been widely advertised as a land of golden
opportunities, where jobs are plentiful and men are scarce, wages high
and living cheap. We desire to dispute these highly colored statements
and to show you the true condition of the industrial affairs here in
Portland and Oregon. We have at this date in this city alone 10,000
idle men, skilled and unskilled, destitute and begging for bread or a
chance to earn bread, the larger portion of whom are new arrivals in
this country, lured hither by the false advertisements of the open shop
employers and the greedy land sharks, both of whom are desirous of
beating down the wages now maintained by organized labor, wages that
are very moderate considering the high cost of living.
In many instances men have brought large
families to
this new country of undeveloped resources, only to be compelled to ask
the city and county officials to give them the bread to keep their
loved ones from the awful pangs of starvation. This condition is
prevalent all over Oregon. From the widely advertised Medford in
southern Oregon, a city of 15,000 inhabitants, comes the message that a
thousand men are unemployed in that town--no chance to work.
We ask you, therefore, to place this
state of
affairs before the membership of your locals and see that this
information is given widest publicity in your papers. Enclosed are a
few posters which we wish you to post in conspicuous places about the
meeting halls of working men and women, that they may not be misled or
inveigled into venturing into Oregon unless they have sufficient means
to support themselves here until conditions adjust themselves.
Yours
fraternally,
ARTHUR W.
LAWRENCE, Sec'y."Official," Plumber's
Gas and Steam Fitters' Journal, March 1912, page 40

UNION ASSAILS MEDFORDCIRCULARS SENT TO EAST TO KEEP
AWAY COLONISTS.Labor Leaders Say "Knock"
Intended as Rebuke to Council
for Failure to Pass 8-Hour Ordinance.

MEDFORD, Or., April
5.--(Special.)--Citizens and "boosters" of Medford and the Rogue River
Valley awoke Friday morning to learn that the Labor Union Council had
issued a circular intended to keep away both the investor and farmer,
craftsman and laborer. The circulars came back to Medford from the
Middle West and stirred citizens and business men to demand at once a
thorough investigation by the Commercial Club and Business Men's
Association, asking that every union in the city be put on record
regarding its stand in the matter.
Union officials of the city Friday
declared that the
issuance of the circular was contrary to their wishes; that it was
distributed without a referendum vote of the Central Labor Council,
thereby making it illegal; that many of the union men did not
know
that it had been issued; that the "knock" was intended as a rebuke to
the city for the failure of the Council to pass the eight-hour
ordinance, and that the I.W.W. and Socialist wing of the Labor Council
were the backers and promoters or the circulars.
The facts in the case are these:
That a committee was appointed by the
Labor Council
to frame the circular and that a draft was read in the council by D. C.
White, a carpenter and Socialist candidate for councilman at the last
city election. Union men at this time objected so strenuously to the
circular that its particularly violent parts were eliminated.
Union members also say that the circular
was rushed
through the Council and that they had no time to consider its points.Morning Oregonian,
Portland, April 6, 1912, page 7

HERE'S WHAT THAT CIRCULAR DOES(Hutchinson, Kans., News)

Col.
L. A. Beebe, secretary of the Commercial Club, received a letter
yesterday from Z. H. Bissell, a former resident of this county, now
located at Medford, Oregon, enclosing a circular warning people to stay
away from that section.
The circular is issued by the Central
Labor Council,
of Medford, and it warns people not to locate in that section. The
circular says: "This entire country is overrun with an unemployed and
disappointed army of men who have responded to unscrupulous
advertising. All the really good land has been bought up. The land now
being advertised is desert with hardpan only a few inches under the
surface in which they must needs blast holes for fruit trees that
cannot survive more than a few years, at from $300 to $500 an acre."
Mr. Bissell, in sending the circular,
comments: "The
land around Hutchinson is not to be compared with this in the Rogue
River Valley. Reno and Rice county land is far superior to this land
here."

--------

Bissell is at present employed as a janitor in the First National Bank
building in this city.Medford
Mail Tribune, April 8, 1912, page 1

FAMINE LETTER DEFENDEDA. W.
Lawrence Insists Labor Council Is Essentially Right in Position.

Following
an informal reply to a
letter sent from the office of the State Immigration Commission,
calling attention to a second "famine letter" which had been issued
from the Portland Labor Council and published in Eastern papers, A. W.
Lawrence has sent to State Immigration Agent. C. C. Chapman a formal
letter in which he reiterates his declaration that the Labor Council
has not broken faith with the immigration authorities, since the letter
was mailed prior to the conference called by Governor West.
Mr. Lawrence, however, defends the Labor
Council in
its action in having sent out the letter and asserts that the
essentials stated in it are true. He implies that the immigration agent
is trying "to inject a two-months-old affair into a political campaign."
Judge William Colvig, president and
manager of the
Medford Commercial Club, visiting in Portland yesterday, said that a
letter similar to the "famine letter" sent out by the Portland Labor
Council was sent out from Medford some time ago, warning people away
from that city. Since that time, he says, the movement has fallen into
bad favor with many members of the labor associations and that the
typographical and plumbers' unions have both withdrawn their support
from the campaign of unfavorable publicity, and several other unions
have indicated their purpose to do likewise.Morning Oregonian,
Portland, April 10, 1912, page 14

Central Labor Council of Medford
and Vicinity.

We,
the Central Labor Council of Medford and vicinity, deem it necessary
that some steps should be taken to inform the working man who is
thinking of changing his location to benefit his condition of the true
conditions as they exist in the Rogue River Valley. A bunch of
organized promoters, "boosters" and real estate men are advertising
this country in glowing colors. They do not hesitate at any statement
to catch the unsuspecting prospective settler.
All of the really good land, which
comprises about
two-fifths of the Rogue River Valley, has been bought up by
millionaires and speculators, who have boosted the price out of the
reach of the man of moderate means, and who are at present advertising
desert land, with hardpan only a few inches under the surface, in which
they must needs blast holes for fruit trees that cannot survive more
than a few years, at from three to five hundred dollars an acre.
This entire country is overrun with an
unemployed
and disappointed army of men who have responded to this unscrupulous
advertising. The churches, lodges and municipality of Medford have made
many contributions to charity in order to tide their unemployed through
the winter--and still men, willing and anxious to work, are begging for
bread in Medford. And these deplorable conditions are not confined to
Medford alone, but exist quite generally over the state of Oregon.
Skilled mechanics are in the same boat
with the
common laborer and are having a hard struggle under these adverse
conditions. Very few are at work.
This letter is not put out, as some of
the
"boosters" claim, "to get a corner on labor," but to protect the
working man. Any sane man knows that a "corner on labor," in these
times of depression and unemployment, is an impossibility. The day of
the homesteader is past in this vicinity, and unless you are
prepared to support yourself by other means than day labor our advice
to you is do not come to Oregon until such time when matters have been
so adjusted that you can at least find employment and not be compelled
to walk the streets looking for work while your savings, accumulated by
hard work and sacrifice, dwindle and disappear.Plumber's Gas and Steam Fitters'
Journal, May 1912, page 23

REDUCE THE RENTALS

Along
with the reductions in the cost of living in Medford that the public
market will accomplish by lowering the cost of produce and meat, should
come a reduction in rents, which are too high--higher in many instances
than business will justify.
The shortage in buildings during the
period of
phenomenal growth of the past five years forced rents in the business
district up to exorbitant figures--to far in excess of a reasonable
return upon the actual investment. Many of the landlords are trying to
secure returns upon an inflated valuation, and by so doing, they are
forcing unnecessary hardships upon merchants and through them upon the
public--hence retarding the progress of the city.
The majority of buildings in the
business district
are little better than shacks remodeled with modern fronts. There are
few modern structures. Most of them are owned by the persons who bought
them for small sums years ago and have owned them since, but now demand
four or five times as much rent as they formerly demanded. As a result,
for the first time in the history of the city, there are several vacant
stores in the heart of the business district.
Rents in Medford are higher than in
Eugene or Salem,
both larger cities. They are almost as high as in Portland. It is an
unhealthy condition and should be remedied, and the landlords should be
longsighted enough for their own future welfare to see it, and
voluntarily reduce rentals, even where they have a lease that works a
hardship upon the renter.
A first-class modern, up-to-date store
was recently
driven out of the city because of exorbitant rent and the entire stock
moved and a new store opened in another town. After remaining vacant
for some time, the building was rented at half the amount or less paid
by the firm forced out. This should serve as a warning to other
landlords, who are likely to find themselves in the same predicament.
Merchants who tack on excessive profits
soon kill
their own business. The same holds true of the property owner who
demands unreasonable rentals, which must be based upon the business the
tenant does as well as upon the original investment. There is no
quicker way to kill a city than by driving people away by high rentals
and consequent high prices.Medford
Mail Tribune, June 4, 1912, page 4

WHAT'S THE MATTER WITH
OREGON--ONE THING

Oregon
and the Northwest are suffering from the effects of land speculation.
The era of rapid development of the past decade attracted in its wake a
flock of speculators, whose contribution to prosperity consisted in
inflating values.
It is doubtful if any form of gambling
is harder
upon a country than land gambling. It upsets and unsettles communities.
Give a touch of the get-rich-quick magic of buying on margins
today to sell at an advance tomorrow, and the individual is spoiled for
the humdrum life of toil.
Land speculation is the same in theory,
farther
reaching in results, as faro, roulette, poker and other games of
chance. It not only demoralizes the individual, but the community as
well. It retards rather than builds up, creates a fictitious base and
supplants plodding development with feverish expectancy and
anticipation, a hectic flush that counterfeits real health.
Land speculation not only withdraws
individuals from
useful production, but also land. No permanent prosperity can be built
upon the process of swapping property, increasing valuations or staking
out town lots. The citizen who lives by a raise in the price of
property due to the growth of the community fulfills no useful part in
the community's existence--is simply a parasite upon it.
Inflation of land values is simply
trying to
discount today the development of tomorrow. The speculator is trying to
cash in advance the industry and enterprise of the next decade or two.
His contribution to society is no more beneficial than that of any
other gambler.
Productive work is the real basis of
prosperity.
Land is worth just what it can be made to produce. Without labor it is
unproductive and therefore valueless to the community. No one is
entitled to more than he creates, but everyone is entitled to all that
he creates. But what does the speculator create?
Every section has to go through the land
speculative
era--sometimes several succeeding speculative crazes. After artificial
inflation has had its day, there is always the reaction--the period of
depression--and the community is then in much better shape, much
healthier, much sounder. When the artificial inflation has been
squeezed, and people cease trying to live without labor, cease
discounting the future and get "down to brass tacks," quit grafting and
go to work, then the community has an assured future--and the sooner it
realizes this the better.
The entire Pacific coast country is
going to have a
phenomenal development during the next decade, following the completion
of the Panama Canal, the San Francisco exposition and the railroad and
highway development in prospect. But care should be exercised in every
community to make prosperity permanent by preventing land speculation
and inflation, that the future may not be too far discounted and that
there may be no prolonged period of depression following.Medford
Mail Tribune, March 18, 1913, page 4

COMMITTEE TO AID IDLE MEN BY WORK

To
aid Governor West in his fight to secure state work for homeless and
hungry men, against political enemies, Mayor Purdin, upon the
suggestion of Councilman Millar, named the following committee to draft
resolutions urging action and secure signatures in support of the
governor's stand; City Attorney McCabe, Councilman Millar and Arthur
Perry.
Councilman Millar read an appeal from
the League of
the Unemployed setting forth present labor conditions. Millar held the
action to be a humanitarian move. The committee will meet soon to take
initial action.Medford
Mail Tribune, December 24, 1913, page 2

HOW MEDFORD MERCHANTS AND LEADING
FIRMS VIEW 1914 PROSPECTS FROM PROSPERITY ANGLE; OPTIMISTIC

W. I. Vawter.

Rogue River Valley in general and Medford in particular should and will
enjoy a most prosperous year in 1914. Our lands are maintained at good
prices, none of our first-class orchard properties are offered at a
price less than in 1910. The fruit production should exceed that of
1913 by 25 percent. We are again doing something in the way of shipping
out meat products. In 1910 we shipped in 75 carloads of potatoes; the
year just closed we exported many carloads of garden products.
Everything agriculturally is tending towards a stable and solvent
condition which will bring in its turn a satisfactory prosperity.

The Toggery.

The Toggery feels very optimistic as to the future business prospect of
the Rogue River Valley and city of Medford. The big volume of trade
this fall, and especially the past thirty days, we feel is due to the
successful fruit season and is only an indication of what a few
industries which furnish permanent payrolls would mean toward
additional prosperity.

F. W. Street, Secretary
Commercial Club.

I have more than one reason to believe the prospects for the Rogue
River Valley for 1914 will be good. The correspondence received by the
Commercial Club has more life to it than a few months ago. People are
really in earnest about coming to Oregon. The majority are in
comparatively moderate circumstances but want assurance that while they
are willing to work hard they want to know about our markets and net
profits. The crop reports that have been collected for The Mail Tribune New
Year edition are splendid, and 1,000 copies will be sent out to these
people. We think it will be convincing, and the plans mapped out by the
Commercial Club for 1914 is to give Medford a larger payroll. The
public will be invited some time soon to hear Mr. D. M. Lowe of Ashland
give his illustrated lecture and experiences at the Chicago land show,
and if you are looking through blue glasses you will not need them
after you hear him.

C. A. Meeker, Manager M.M.
Department Store.

Much is the concern of many people regarding prospects and prosperity
of the Rogue River Valley for the coming year, and justly so, for
perhaps there is no other country in the West so widely known and
looked to as a criterion of future prospects as is this valley and
Medford.
Never in history has this valley been
blessed with such
abundant crops and good prices, causing all to wear an optimistic
smile, not only farmer or fruit grower, but the merchant as well.
Our business passed all previous records in 1913, and, taking a view of
1914 from all angles, one can only predict greater results for the
coming year.
Our best wish for all is a happy and a
prosperous New Year.

Medford Furniture and Hardware
Company.

We are very optimistic as to future business conditions in the Rogue
River Valley. Considering the condition of [the] valley at the
beginning of the year 1913, we have had an exceedingly good trade. The
conditions now, at the first of the new year, are much better than they
were a year ago, due to a good fruit crop bringing good prices, also to
the farmers raising a more diversified crop, and more stock to put on
the market.
The prospects are for more advancement
in the
country than in the towns, and this in itself is a very satisfactory
indication to the merchant, as a town will always keep up with the
country.

J. C. Mann.

The year 1913 did not start out very promising, but it has far exceeded
our expectations and has turned out to be the most prosperous one for
us that we have had. We start the new year full of confidence in the
future of Medford, believing that it is the best place to live, the
best place to do business, and has the best people in America. There is
no reason why 1914 should not be the best year for everyone. Let us do
our best to make it so.

T. E. Daniels.

In my opinion, said T. E. Daniels of the Daniels for Duds store, there
never was so much reason for optimism on the part of the business man
as at the present time. Locally we have passed through the trying
period that every small city experiences after a rapid growth. Medford
has stood the test, and in spite of all that has been said to the
contrary, when compared with the other cities of the state we find our
city has had its full share of business and has felt a comparatively
small depression which has existed generally throughout the country
since the Roosevelt panic in 1907. I am extremely optimistic in regard
to the effect of the currency bill on business in the very near future,
and the endorsement of the measure now that it has passed by a great
number of the banks and other financial institutions of importance, I
regard as evidence that we have a bright future to look forward to in
business during the coming year. I have enjoyed a splendid increase in
my business through the entire fall season, which to me is somewhat of
"the proof of the pudding."

General Resume.

The new year gives hope for the return of prosperity, and conditions
without optimism point to, all things being equal, the most prosperous
and happiest year so far recorded. The woes of 1913 were caused by man.
In the readjustment now under way, the mistakes will be overcome. There
was no unkind visitation of providence, nature was kind, and a new
spirit of hope and optimism abides in the heart of the Rogue River
Valley today with 1914 and its golden promises."How
Medford Merchants nd Leading Firms View 1914 Prospects from Prosperity
Angle; Optimistic," Medford
Sun, January 1, 1914, page 6

That Oregon Pear Story.

To the
Editor: I wish to make a few remarks as to an article published in the Pacific Rural Press of
January 10 in regard to T. E. Scantlin's wonderful pear story, as he
stated one grower received over $3400 from one acre. Now, I wonder how
large one of these acres must be?
I will say Rogue River Valley
is a good pear country, but there is plenty of hot air, too. I lived in
Rogue River Valley nine years, and six years near Medford, and was in
the fruit business myself, and have some knowledge about pears. My
Bartletts were second to none, but I did not get returns such as a
person reads about.
I am also sending you clippings from the
Medford Mail
Tribune, so
you can see what the Medford boosters think of California. It seems to
be their hobby to come down to California to boost for Rogue River
Valley and knock this country. Dr. W. S. Goudy says he has not seen the
sun since leaving Medford. Well, I have seen such times in Rogue River
Valley, too. And he says California is catching retribution for her
misdeeds. If there were anything in that, the Medford boosters have
something coming to them, too. Mr. Westerlund was connected in a large
orchard tract when I lived there, and probably is yet. He evidently
wants to turn the suckers to Medford.--M. DEMMES, Gridley.
[Mr.
Demmer sends us a choice collection of misrepresentations, which we
will not kill space with. The proverb says that such things always come
home to roost.--EDITOR.]Pacific
Rural Press, San Francisco, February 14, 1914, page 209

ORDINANCE REGULATES MOVING OF
HOUSES

To
correct the evils arising in the past from moving houses through the
streets, an ordinance was passed by the council making it necessary for
the owner of the building to secure a permit, put up a bond for all
damage that might be incurred, unnecessary delay, and pay for the
handling of telephone and telegraph wires. Shade trees on East Main
were ruined a few months ago by house movers, and at times structures
have been left standing in the streets for a day or two at a time.Medford
Mail Tribune, April 22, 1914, page 6

Medford to Get $20,000 Hotel.

MEDFORD, Or., July 11.--(Special.)--J. C. Barnum, owner of the Barnum
Railroad, between Medford and Jacksonville, has started the
construction of a $20,000 hotel across from the Southern Pacific depot
on Front Street. The hotel will have 40 rooms will be three stories
high and will cater to the commercial trade particularly. Mr. Barnum is
a great believer in Medford's future and declares that now is the time
to invest in local real estate, as a revival in business through
Southern Oregon and the state is imminent.Sunday
Oregonian, Portland, July 12, 1914, page 54

(From
the Corvallis Gazette.)

"From reports, I had expected to find Medford dead enough to smell
bad," said [Corvallis] Mayor [Walter K.] Taylor, "but I talked with
many business men, and I found no one who felt that Medford was
suffering more than the slump that is general. In fact, different ones
said to me that their business the past few days had been better than
for some time, and they had no fear for the future. I saw that
practically the entire city was paved, and asked several if they were
not going it rather strong. They thought not, and said the entire
county ought to be paved.""Corvallis Mayor Is Much Pleased with Medford," Medford Mail Tribune, August
12, 1914, page 3

SUGGESTS CITY PAY HALF
OF PAVING DEBTS OUTSTANDING

To
the Editor:
I read in your paper of Sept. 9 about a
possible
proposed bond issue to pay [the] city paving bill. I am not familiar
with all the details that have led up to the present situation in
Medford. I should judge, however, from what I read that the city
fathers in the past have saddled a very heavy paying debt on the
residents and owners of property in Medford.
If we look at this from an outsider's
point of view, we see the picture about as follows:
1st--A growing city with an enthusiastic
group of city fathers and a general desire to improve the city.
2nd--An order from the city council to
pave the
principal streets of the city, etc., with ten years to pay for the
paving.
3d--Paving is done and payments are
begun by the property owners.
4th--Close financial conditions sweep
over the
United States and hang on like an English bulldog, and is still with us.
5th--People become discouraged and stop
paying
street assessments, rents go down, and the city under this heavy burden
of taxes is a good city to move away from. Some people give up their
property for the taxes, which soon eats into the value of property.
6th--A general desire for some kind of
relief is
manifest in a bill to rebond the city for a longer time, to gain the
needed relief.
Now what would be a possible solution of
this
condition? And how could the city fathers compensate for their
overenthusiasm in ordering the city paved when if they could have
looked into the future they would not have issued the order?
It has been suggested by a party who
read this
article in your Sept. 9th issue that the equitable thing for the city
fathers to do now would be to issue bonds for one-half of the cost of
paving, and the property owners to organize a league and agree to pay
the other half on the condition that the city pay one-half. And, if it
is found to be equitable, to extend this offer to future pavements.
This would not work a hardship on anyone and would treat all citizens
alike. Those who have paved will be on the same footing as those who
have to pave in the future.
This arrangement, I am convinced, if
carried out,
will put new life into your city, make everybody feel pleasant over the
situation and greatly relieve the present intense strain and money
stringency.
Yours for the future prosperity of your
beautiful city, by one who is interested, if not present.

S.
R. COOK.

Medford Mail Tribune, September
23, 1915, page 5

MY ORCHARD 'TIS OF THEE(By Mary Agnes Daily)

My orchard 'tis of theePeach, pear and cherry tree, Of thee I sing.No more thy blossoms brightCheer me up day and night;The truth I may as well indite, I have the blues.In debt I'm immersed quite,And freedom's holy light Don't shine for me.All sorts of insect pestDoth thy fruit buds molest,I fain would treat it as a jest But I cannot.God save us from the blight;No longer does my might Avail to curb it.From frost I try to shield,Smudge pots adorn my field.Oh! would I had the power to shield Thee from thy plight.My orchard now to theeI owe my poverty And I shall quit.I cannot help my fate;My sleep you dissipate;With gloom you saturate My entire being.So now I'll sell thee cheap,For some poor cuss to keep Till he's tired, too.And when at length I'm freeWith naught to worry me,My orchard 'tis of thee I'll sing no more.But when I part with theeSome other industry Will claim my tin.Perchance 'twere raising wheat,Or else the sugar beetWith motions deft and sweet May rope me in.But whatever it may beI still will think of thee But not thy bounty.No doubt I soon shall beHoused, clothed and fed you see, By Jackson County.

Ashland Tidings, April 22, 1918, page 8
"More real estate changed hands in one
month last
summer than in the previous seven years," announces Mayor C. E. Gates
of Medford. "We are now in better condition than when the boom was on.
Our crops are record-breakers and the prices are good. In short, the
orchard business is at last just what the boomers and promoters used to
say it would be. The trouble with our country was that the boys came in
with too much money and they did their farming at the university club
and at the country club. Now they have to get in and work and run the
orchards properly and the result is just what it should be. Then the
boomers paved the streets, put in a water system and saddled the town
with debt until the assessments were higher than the property was
worth. The bankers stood behind the town and there were no failures.
Well, not long ago we put all the old debts into a jackpot, issued new
bonds and started out afresh. Interest will be paid on the new bonds
for three years and then every interest-due date a percentage of the
securities will be canceled Medford has found itself."
"Those Who Come and Go," Morning
Oregonian, Portland, October 11, 1919, page 8

May 13, 1920
This is a strange town with residences
scattered out
all around and miles of paved streets that are partly lined some places
for blocks and blocks with shacks and vacant lots. A peculiar town. I
can't see any great future for it.Diary of Fred Alton Haight

"THE GOOD OLD DAYS."

THE
GOOD OLD DAYS! Every now and then someone hereabouts heaves a sigh and
regrets that Medford isn't the Medford of the golden days--the boom
days--the get-rich-quick days of 1910-11.
To hear these gloomy
goslings talk, one would suppose that Medford reached its pinnacle a
decade ago and has been steadily declining ever since.
As a
matter of fact, the very reverse is true. Many years ago Medford did
have a boom, which is only another term for an economic spree, and like
most sprees in the pre-Volstead
era, there was an awful headache the next morning.
The good-old-day wailers have never gotten over that headache. Their
heads have never cleared up. Nor their eyes. Convinced that the boom
had busted, they proceeded to assume that Medford had busted, and they
have been suffering under the delusion ever since.
The good old
days. Oh, if they would only come back. Well, let's hope they don't.
For booms, while exhilarating, never last. And in the end they always
cost more than they are worth.
Today Medford is in better shape
in every way than it has ever been before. It has more people, it has
more homes, it has more money in the banks, it has more payrolls, it
has more prosperity and it has better promise for the future than it
ever had before.
This isn't booster talk. It isn't even
propaganda--as yet. It is the plain unvarnished truth supported by
plain undeniable facts.
The Medford Chamber of Commerce has
recently completed what might be termed an economic survey of the city.
The results have been charged. The survey includes everything from bank
deposits to building permits, and from precipitation to postal
receipts--and the index line of every chart is not only higher than in
those so-called good old days, but in nearly every case has steadily
risen ever since!
These charts are soon to be printed in
this paper [see below].
They will make excellent reading. The will be particularly excellent
for those poor victims of the inferiority complex, who harp on the good
old days, without realizing for a moment apparently that they can't
hold a candle to the days that are here.Medford
Mail Tribune, November 17, 1923, page 4

Once upon a time
Medford had a boom. Like most booms the Medford boom busted. Also like
most booms the Medford boom was followed by several years of acute
depression, rendered all the more painful by the contrast between
abnormal activity and subnormal activity.
That Medford boom has never been
forgotten. Its aftereffects have never been forgotten. But what has
been forgotten, what very few local residents have apparently realized,
is that several years ago Medford recovered from this boom collapse,
regained its normal health, and since then has been going steadily
forward, until today Medford is in every way in better condition than
it has ever been before."Medford
Has Found Itself," Medford
Mail Tribune, November 30, 1923

Medford had just undergone its first big boom
when Gates arrived, and even the advent of his numerous and healthy
family did not save it from a heavy decrease in population. The city
had been paved enthusiastically, but the assessments didn't yield
enough to meet the improvement bonds, and the city government was as
broke as if it had been located in Florida. There was a million dollars
due and nothing to pay it with except real estate and future prospects.
Pop made himself part of Medford, and he was
there to stay. The
business men and taxpayers turned to him to take the job of mayor. He
did so on condition that at the same election when his name was
submitted, a charter amendment would be carried abolishing the salaries
of mayor and councilmen. The measure carried almost unanimously
and Pop was elected. He served six years without salary or expense
account, from 1916 to 1922.
Refinancing the city was the first
task. Improvement bonds had been sold as low as 66 in order to get
paving in front of every lot before new lots were subdivided. Pop's
administration succeeded in refunding the city debt by selling a big
new bond issue at par, and was smart enough to stick the bond buyer
with the $1,575 cost of engraving and printing the new bonds, so the
city got the entire face value of the issue without a nickel discount."'Pop' Gates Has 'It'," Medford Mail Tribune, July 13, 1930, page 7

Oakland, California.

Editor People's World
Mr. Harrison George
San Francisco, Cal.
Dear Sirs:
Reading William Z. Foster's homestead adventure in the Progressive Weekly, that excellent magazine supplement to the People's World, reminds
me of our experience on a small ranch in Ashland, Oregon for five
years, and how slick guys with long pencils behind their ears
welcome strangers when you alight at the town stations; next they lure
you to "splendid tracts" of fruit land that "rapidly increase in value."
I would like for Mr. Foster to read the sad
experience of an Ashland, Oregon school teacher, portrayed in her poem
"My Orchard 'Tis of Thee" [above]. I am sure he would be pleased to see this.
Not knowing where I could reach Mr. Foster, I am taking the liberty of asking you to dispatch it to him.
Thanks.

Yours truly,--M.J.

Daily Worker, New York City, May 2, 1939, page 7

The fast-talking
realtors had assured the
greenhorns from the East that in six short years the profits from the
fruit trees would allow the owners to spend their winters in sunny
southern California among the palm trees, and no irrigation was
required due to the natural sub-irrigation of the soil on the valley
floor. What prevaricators those eager promoters turned out to be.
A big land boom hit the valley in 1909
with so many
buyers getting off the trains that the Southern Pacific Railroad
company set up tents on the Medford station property to bed down as
many as two hundred investors every night. Dad was offered double his
investment, but we were settled in the new home and he turned it down.
Within three years nine out of ten of the new orchardists had moved on
or returned to their former homes. The value of the young orchards had
taken a nose dive. The land boom actually ended in two and a half
years, and without irrigation water, the young trees didn't have a
chance.
George W. Vilas, Tales
of a Rogue Valley Rogue, 1974, page 28